And the winner is . . .

This year's winner and finalists were chosen by three judges, with input from other readers. The stories picked were ones that earned a thumbs-up from all three judges or a particularly strong thumbs-up from two of them. As has been the case in previous contests, each judge had favorites that didn't make the cut.

We are very grateful to all the professionals who took time to share writing tips with us:

Finally, we have to acknowledge the shortest entry, #106, Last Visit to Nan, by Bart Van Goethem. If we were running a 14-word contest this entry would surely be a contender. We can afford to reproduce it here in its entirety:

“Why didn't she just hand me the money,” he sobbed on the witness stand.

A finalist is someone who should have won, yet didn't, for the sole reason that there can only be one winner. Congratulations to:

Steve’s thinks: There are several stories here, all well told, and all the more so because of the limited space. First we’re treated to a remarkably vivid description of the girl’s life before the accident, which when first mentioned creates contrast strong enough that we want to read on. Then her recovery and adaptation; the chipping nail paint is a fresh and canny way to mark the passage of time. Finally what happens in the present when she visits her grandmother’s grave, and the last line, which creates a breathless moment.

I love the details: “the consonants in rhythm,” “her Spiderman sneakers.” My favorite is “I’ll pick you up; no questions asked.” Because that simple line of dialogue, the only one in the story, tells us so much. It’s what moms and dads say when their kids have big nights out: “Call me if you get into trouble, all will be forgiven if you just give me a chance to rescue you from the trouble.” We identify with this, and can therefore see everything else. Her prom dress. The dorky looking drummer (what was that band’s name again?). Mom and dad sitting up late, saying little, furtively watching the clock. One simple expression can paint a big picture.

When I encounter alliteration my guard normally goes up, because it’s hard to execute without sounding clever. In this story the letter P is alliterated heavily. Yet it’s subtle and innocuous in a way only a journeyman writer can pull off. (And now you’re reading the story again to see what I’m talking about, which proves my point.)

“Counting” is a textbook example of writing made more powerful by relentless editing, by the necessity of rationing words. The word count is 249—the author has one to spare for another project! By comparison, my analysis is 318 words long. And there you have it.

Jodi, we owe you 284 bucks.

Next is a poetry contest. The entry fee is $10, the prize is $1000, and poets can enter as many as five poems per submission. The deadline is 21 June. Submissions are already open:

Oh, my! Thank you so much to all of the judges for choosing me as a finalist. I am so honored! This contest was a lot of fun. Congratulations to all of the other finalists, too. Jodi, your piece is BEAUTIFUL! Congratulations!

Wow! I'm so grateful to be chosen as a finalist among all these wonderful stories. Congrats to all the other finalists and congratulations to Jodi for taking home the Gold. It was well deserved. Tremendous story. Thank you to everyone at Lascaux who put this together and to those who read and judged the stories. I enjoyed this contest thoroughly and can't wait until next year's.

Irena, just to clarify, the "professionals" were the people who offered writing tips for the benefit of the writing community. The "celebrity" writers were people we excerpted as fun "bonus" entries -- as if they were writing flash fiction themselves. Neither of their categorizations are a reflection of stature. As free as Mr. Chekhov often was with his writing advice, I'm sure he would have been delighted to be able to impart wisdom no matter which category he was in.

And, really, the important thing is that a handful of people made a significant effort to share these things with some wonderful writers (the entrants) who took the time to write and/or read the entries -- writers who were bold enough to share their work on an open stage.

That, to me, is the most wonderful part of all.

Thanks, everyone, for stopping by to support our efforts to build a great (and supportive) writing community.